Spring is here (despite the sleet and hail!), so it's time for students at the shedio to dust down the watercolours and indulge in some glorious colour to hail in the new season. There have been a couple of timely exhibitions in London recently - The Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour - and a closer study of the entries shows that the definition of watercolour is definitely changing. No longer the preserve of traditionalist, purist painters, this wonderful medium is now being used (and abused) by a new generation of artists who are more than happy to challenge the rules. White watercolour (yes white!) was evident, along with plenty of abstracted compositions that allowed artists to revel in the wonderful haphazardness of trying to paint with coloured water. Full respect goes to the wonderful students this week for embracing these, and many other ideas ... the course is still ongoing, but I couldn't resist showing their fabulous work so far. Well done guys x